Flat seam sewing machine



Oct. 13, 1931'. A s. RIVIERE ET AL FLAT SEAM SEWING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet l Oct; 13, 1931. 5 R|V|ERE ET AL 1,827,613

FLAT SEAM SEWING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 13,1931. A. s. RIVIERE ET AL FLAT SEAM SEWING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 12, 1928 gwvento'a MM 4?. M

Oct. 13, 1931. s. RIVIERE ET AL 1,827,613

FLAT SEAM SEWING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. S R|V|ERE T AL 1,827,613

FLAT SEAM SEWING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Oct. 13, 1931 JYIUNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE ALBERT S. RIVIERE AND CHARLES I. RUBEL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO UNION SPECIAL MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS FLAT SEAM SEWING MACHINE Application filed September 12, 1928. Serial No. 305,435.

'The invention relates to new and useful.

improvements in sewing machines, and more particularly toa sewing machine for uniting passing of cross seams, elastic tapes or the like beneath the presser foot.

"A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above type wherein the presser foot is formed with a yielding section in rear of the needles, which yielding section may move above the surface of the presser foot or beneath the surface of the presser foot to aid in the control of the fabric during the passing of cross seams, elastic tapes and the like.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above type wherein the yielding section of the'foot is cut away immediately inrear ofthe needles so as to,

provide clearance for the needle thread during chaining.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed. a

In the drawings which show byway of illustration one embodiment of the invention Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a machinehaving the improvements applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the presser foot, also showing the position of the cross thread laying devices an more particularly the'rib' which guides the up-turned edge portions of the fabric sections Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing more or less diagrammatically the presser foot, the

the trimming devices, and

ing the rib retracted so as to permit a cross seam, elastic tape or the like to pass beneath the foot;

Fig. 5 is a side view showing more or less diagrammatically the presser foot, the yield- T ing section in rear of the needles, and the position of the parts when the elastic tape is passing beneath the forward portion of the cot ' 6 is a similar view, but showing the positlon of the parts when the elastic tape is passing beneath the yielding section of the foot f- F fg. 7 is a bottom plan view of the presser oot Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the rib which guides the upturned edge portions of the fabric sections;

Fig. 9 is a view'showing more or less diagrammatically, and partly in section, the forward end of the presser foot, a portion of the work support and the rib, and themanner of guiding the upturned edge portions, and

Fig. 10 is a sectional view through the shank of the presser foot, showing the manner of supporting the yielding section.

The invention is directed to a sewing machine which is especially adapted for joining the edge portions of knitted fabrics for forming therein a flat seam. The edge portions of the fabric sections are upturned, and one or'both of the edges are trimmed, after which they are turned down into fiat relation and either abutted, or one of the edge portions slightly overlapping the other. As thus positioned, the fabric sections are directed to a stitch forming mechanism which includes a plurality of needles disposed so as to join the edge portions of fabric sections, and cooperating with these needles is a cross thread laying mechanism on the upper face of the material, and a looper beneath the material, and this forms a flat covering seam. The seam produced on the machine is similar to that disclosed in the patent to Joseph Berger No. 1,349,712, granted August 17, 1920. The present machine is particularly adapted for stitching relatively thin materia. such as rayon silk. The presser foot is provided with a guiding slot through which the ski I upturned'edge portions of the fabric sections are directed tothe trimming mechanism. To aid in guiding these upturned portions, the work support is, provided with a rib which extends into a slot or channel in the presser foot. This rib is mounted on a supporting member which is capable of sliding lengthwise of the work supportingarm. Whenaheavycross seam orapocket conaining a'heavy cross elastic ta Le approaches the presser foot, it is practica'ly impossible to cause it to pass into the slotandbeneath the presser foot with the rib exending into said channel or slot which receives. the up- .turned edge portions. The machine 1s,therefore, stopped, and the support'for the; rib slid along the work supporting arm so as to move the rib out of the channel or slot in'the presser foot, and a. sufficient. distance away from the presser foot to permit this: heavy cross. seam or elastic tape to pass underneath the. presserfoot. The presser footis provided with a.

yielding section in rearof the. needles which extends all the Way across the foot, and this yielding section is capable of movement so thatits under face is above the; plane of the. bottom of the foot, or under other-conditions,

it is beneath the'plane of the presser foot.

This yielding section is also provided with a clearance space directly in rear of the needles,

Referring more in detail I to the; drawings, the machine towhichthe invention isUapplied includes a work supporting arm-l in which is mounted the looper mechanism. and

i the. feeding mechanism. The. looper mechanism includes a. looper 2 of the thread car ryingtype. Directly above, the free end of the work'supporting arm is aneedleheadin which the needle barreciproeates, and in the present embodiment of thev invention, the

' needle bar is provided with three needles Th'e looper. cooperates with three needles. The. material is held on the work. support by a preswr foot 4. Mounted. oiirthe presser-foot i isia stationary trimming blade- 5,-' and cooperating :with .this. stationary trimming blade. is a movable blade 6. A

cross. thread guide 1 7 directsthecross: thread so that; it is engagedby a book 8. This hook forms a loop. in the cross .threadwhich is se.-'

cured by the needle threads... This cover stitch: forming mechanism is of the usual vtype, and further description thereof is'not thought necessary. The'presser foot-is provided with a channel or slot 9- into which.

the upturned edge portions of the fabric sec-' tions are led. This slot directs the edge portionsof' the trimming devices which trim one or both of the edge portions; Mounted on the Work sup-porting arnil' is a rib 10-.

This rib extends'intothecha'nnel or slot in the presser foot and is provided with a finger l1" which holds theti ht-hand fabric section,

as viewed Fig.9, raised while the edge portion of the other fabric section is being the sections, and therefore, the rib is provided so as to positivelyinsure the turning down of one edge portion and then the'other Onto. the same. The rib is cut away as indicated at '12, and is tapered off as indicated at 13-;to allow the;le ft-liand edge portion to first turn down into a flat position, While the other section is being heldby the: finger 11. The presser footxis provided'with stitch fingers 14 which are carried; by abridging portion which aids in the turning down'ofl the fabric sections. These parts of the presser:

foot which turn downthe edge 'portionsand control'the same, may be of anywell known construction. The present invention 1s"de-' rected more particularly to-the mountingof the rib. and the construction of the presser foot sovasto provide a yielding section ex tending all the way across in rear of the;

needles. c

' Therib- 10 is mounted on a. support '15 which in turn is mounted i'n a recess-16 in" the work supporting arm, This support 1 Slides endwiseiin thisrecess. "When the rib is'at the forward end of its moveirenton:

the work support, it lies well within the channel 'orj slot ofthe presser foot, and performs 1 its function of guiding the upturned: edge portions of the fabric sections/There are times when'very heavy'cross seams must be passed beneath the presser foot to. complete theseam which is being formed. on the gar men-t; There are also times'lwh en elastic tapes .running:-'at right angles to the seam being formed must be passed beneaththe presser foot. The machine is particularly designed for stitching relatively thin fab.- rics, such as rayon silk and the like, and

therefore, the clearance space'between the rib andthe adjacent walls of the presser foot is necessarily limited so that if a cross sear-n or an elastictape passes underneath the foot, it'is likely to he jammed between the rib.

and the foot, or if it passes beneath the. foot, the foot is raised to such an extent. asrto lose its control of the material being stitched. fllll eii. these heavy cross: seams approach the. presser foot, the'machine is stopped,- and the support for the rib is moved along the work supporting arm to its full retracted position.

This movesthe rib out of the channel, '01 slot inthe presser foot, and thus gives ample clearance space to permit/the cross seam to pass beneath the footand the-:edgeportions of the crossseain to'be firmly joined, 1':

The presser foot is provided with a yielding. "section 17' which: extends all the way h is formed with a clearance space 21. The puracross the foot. This yielding section 17 is carried'by two spaced vertical members 18,

18,- Rwhich are mounted toslide in suitable guideways in the sides of the shank of the presser foot. A screw 19 passing through ;on the yielding section 17. The presser foot has a cut-away portion for forming a space in which this yielding section is located. The yielding section, when at the extreme upper end of its movement, is housed within this recess and the lower face of the yielding section is above the plane of the bottom of the presser foot. When the yielding section is all the way down, then the bottom face of the yielding section is below the plane of the bottom of the presser foot. When the cross seam passes the needles, and is fed underneath this yielding section, the yielding section will move up, resting on top of the cross seam, while the front part of the presser foot will move down so as to contact with the material following the cross seam. Thus it is that the material following the cross seam will be properly held down on the cloth plate during the entering of the needles into and out of the fabric, and there will be no vibrating or drum heading of the fabric. On the other hand, when the cross seam first passes beneath the presser foot, the front portion of the presser foot is raised, and the yielding section will move down so as to engage a fabric passing in advance of the cross seam and insure a proper feeding of the fabric, and also a proper chaining between articles.

This yielding section 17 of the presser foot pose of this clearance space is to reduce the extent to which the feed dog engages'the enchained thread loops and give clearance for the chain so as to prevent the same from being cut by the feed during chaining off.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is-

1. In a sewing machine, the combination of a work supporting arm, a presser foot having a channel for receiving and directing the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, trimming devices associated with the presser foot for trimming the upturned edge portions, cover stitch forming mechanism for joining and covering said edge portions, a rib mounted on said work supporting arm and extending into said channel of the presser foot for guiding the upturned edge portions, and means whereby said rib may be withdrawn from the channel in the presser footto permit the passing of cross seams beneath the presser foot.

2. In a sewing machine, the combination of a work supporting arm, a presser foot having a channel for receiving and directing the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, trimming devices associated with the presser foot for trimming the upturned edge portions, cover stitch forming mechanism for joining and covering said edge portions, a rib mounted on said work supporting arm and extending into said channel of the presser foot for guiding the upturned edge portions, said rib having a projecting finger and a cutawayportion alongside thereof to aid in the placing of the edge portions of the fabric sections one on the other, and means whereby said rib may be withdrawn from the channel to permit a cross seam to pass beneath the presser foot.

- Ina sewing machine, the combination of a work supporting arm, a presser foot having a channel for receiving and directing the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, trimming devices associated with the presser foot for trimming the upturned edge portions, cover stitch forming mechanism for joining and covering said edge portions, a rib extending into the channel in the presser foot for guiding and supporting the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, a support on which said rib is 'mounted, said work supporting arm having a recess in which said support is mounted for movement lengthwise of the work supporting arm so as to position the rib in the channel on the presser foot or withdraw it from said channel.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination of a work supporting arm, a presser foot having a channel for receiving and directing the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, horizontally disposed trimming devices movable up and down with the presser foot for trimming said edge portions, cover seaming mechanism for joining and covering the edge portions after they are trimmed, said presser foot having a cutaway portion in rear of the stitching mechanism, and a yielding section located therein and extending all the way across the presser foot, said yielding section being capable of movement above and below the plane of the bottom of the presser foot.

5. In a sewing machine, the combination of a work supporting arm, a presser foot having a channel for receiving and directing the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, horizontally disposed trimming devices movable upand down with the presser foot for trimming said edge portions, cover seaming mechanism for joining and covering the edge portions after they are trimmed, said presser foot-having a cut-away portion in rear of the stitching mechanism, a yielding section located in said cut-away portion and extending lie 7 allthe way across the presserfooa'vertical members rigid with said yielding section;v and disposedin guiding recesses in the shank of the presser foot, one of said vertical members havingaslot therethrou-gh, a screw extendsv ing through theslot for limiting the movement of the yielding section, said yielding section being'adapted to move, above and be low the plane of the bottom of the presser foot, and, a spring for normally depressing eanna said cutaway portion andextending all the way across the resser foot, and meansjfor limiting the movement of said yielding section whereby it maybe moved across the planecontaining the bottom of thepresser not.

tures. v v I ALBERT SiRlvlERE. CHARLES F. RUBEL.

Ina sewing machine, the combination of I a work supporting arm, a presser foot having a channel for receiving and directing the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, horizontally disposed trimming devices: mov

able up and down with the presser foot for trimming said edge portions, cover seamingmechanism for joining and covering the edge portions after they are trimmed, said presser foot having a cut-away portion in rear ofthe stitching mechanism, a yielding section located in said cut-away portion andextending' all the way across the presser foot, a. spring for depressing said yieldingsection, means for limiting the movement of the yielding section whereby it may move across the plane of the bottomof the presser' foot.

'Z. In a sewing'machine, the combination of a work supporting arm, a'presser foot having' a channel for receiving and dlrecting the upturned edge portions" of fabr c sections,

7 horizontally disposed trimming devices mova work supporting arm, a presser foot having a channel for directing the upturned edge portions of fabric sections, horizontally disposed trimming devicesmovable up and down able up and down with the presser foot for trimming said edge portions, cover seaming v mechanism for joining and covering the edge portions after they are trimmed, said presser foot having a cut-away portion in rear of the stitching mechanism, a yielding section 10- cated in said cut-away portionand extending all. the way across the presser foot, a spring for depressing said yielding section, means for limiting the movement of the yielding section whereby it may move across the plane I of the bottom of the presser foot, said yield ing section having a'clearance. space formed.

with the presser foot fortrimming said edge portions, cover stitch forming mechanism located in rear of the trimming devices, a rib mounted on said work-support and extending into'said channel for guiding and sup-l give clearance for the In testimony whereof we affix our signa porting the edge portions, means for'sup-" porting said rib whereby it may bewithdrawn from the channel, said presser foot having a cut-away portion in'rear of the stitch for: 1 ing mechanism, a yielding. section located in 

